1Elihu went on speaking, and said,
2"Allow me a little longer, and I will show you that I still have something to say on God's behalf."
3"I will bring my knowledge from far away, and I will give righteousness to my Maker."
4"For truly my words will not be false. One who is perfect in knowledge is here with you."
5"Look, God is mighty, and does not despise. He is mighty in strength and wisdom."
6"He does not keep the wicked alive, but he gives the poor their right."
7"He does not turn his eyes away from the righteous. He sets them with kings on the throne; yes, he makes them secure for ever, and they are lifted high."
8"And if they are tied with chains, and held fast by the cords of trouble,"
9"then he shows them what they have done, and how their sins have gone too far."
10"He also opens their ear to correction, and commands them to turn back from wrongdoing."
11"If they obey and serve him, they will spend their days in plenty, and their years in pleasant things."
12"But if they do not obey, they will die by the sword, and they will die without knowledge."
13"But those who are false in heart store up anger. They do not cry out when he ties them up."
14"They die while they are young, and their life ends among the unclean."
15"He rescues the poor in their trouble, and opens their ears when they are crushed."
16"In the same way he would have brought you out of the narrow place into a wide place, where there is no crowding. And what was set on your table would be full of rich food."
17"But you have taken on the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice have taken hold of you."
18"Because there is anger, take care that he does not sweep you away with his blow. Then a great ransom could not set you free."
19"Will he value your riches? No, not gold, nor all your mighty strength."
20"Do not long for the night, when people are cut off where they stand."
21"Take care, do not turn to wrongdoing. You have chosen this rather than suffering."
22"Look, God lifts up by his power. Who teaches as he does?"
23"Who has told him which way to go? Or who can say, 'You have done wrong'?"
24"Remember to praise his work, which people see."
25"Every man may look at it; man may see it from far away."
26"Look, God is great, and we do not know him. The number of his years cannot be searched out."
27"For he makes the drops of water small; they pour down as rain from his mist,"
28"which the clouds drop and pour down on man in plenty."
29"Can anyone understand how the clouds are spread out, or the thunder of his tent?"
30"Look, he spreads his light over it, and he covers the bottom of the sea."
31"By these he judges the peoples; he gives food in plenty."
32"He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it where to strike."
33"Its noise tells about him; the cattle also tell of the rising storm."